Sunday, October 4, 2015

In Roman times, Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry was celebrated at events called Bacchanalias. Some historians think it originated in the south of Italy (southerners know how to par-tay). At this Bacchanalia, eleven writers and poets and one singer were invited to read, recite and sing ... to celebrate ecstasy, revelry and intoxication. Here''s how they did it ...

Dom Capilongo, poet & co-emcee

We start with a bang ... with slam poet Trevor Abes

Trevor

The writer Arif Anwar, travelling from the wilds of Mississauga

The ever expressive poet Valentino Assenza

Val

John Calabro, author of An Imperfect Man

John

Dom Capilongo leads the second set

Dom

The poet Rocco De Giacomo

The inestimable Paul Fowler reading his short story

Paul

Poet, publisher, force majeure ... Luciano Iacobelli

Luc

Paul Salvatori, reggae singer

Paul

Poet & Lexical.ca founder Justin Lauzon

Justin

La Poetessa (and pinch hitter) Cathy Petch

Cathy

There is a Sicilian expression you use when someone special comes into the room: "Ca sono i sordi (Here comes the money)..." That's Toronto poet laureate George Elliott Clarke

GEC

An appreciative crowd ...

Emcee and organizer Michelle Alfano

I hear not the volumes of sound merely, I am moved by the exquisite meanings,

I listen to the different voices winding in and out, striving, contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion;

I do not think the performers know themselves—but now I think I begin to know them.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Trevor Abes is
a poet, arts writer and member of the Toronto Poetry Slam Team. Find his
interviews and essays in The Toronto Review of Books, Torontoist and
Sequential. Find his poetry in untethered magazine, (parenthetical) and The
Toronto Quarterly. Say hello at trevorabes.com.

Michelle Alfano
was most recently the Associate Editor-in-Chief with Descant and the Founder of
the (Not So) Nice Italian Girls & Friends Reading Series. Her novella Made
Up of Arias (Blaurock Press) won the 2010 Bressani Prize for Short Fiction. Her
short story “Opera”, on which her novella Made Up of Arias is based, was a
finalist for a Journey Prize anthology. She is currently at work at a new novel
entitled Destiny, think of me while you sleep and the memoir The Unfinished Dollhouse.
You may read more of her writing at alitchick.blogspot.ca.

Arif Anwar
works for the government and writes in his spare time. He is currently nearing
submission for his first novel, The Storm. Arif has more degrees than he knows
what to do with and an unhealthy interest in cricket (the sport). When not
walking into traffic while staring at his mobile phone, Arif can be found in
Mississauga, where he lives with his partner Sandra and a dog that bears an
uncanny resemblance to a meerkat.

Valentino Assenza
is a published poet and spoken word artist who's writing has mainly been based
out of Toronto over the last 20 years.He has performed all across the Canada and the US, has four chapbooks of
poetry, and numerous pieces of poetry published in journals such as Descant and
Labour Of Love.You can hear Valentino
Tuesday nights as he is currently a co-host of the radio program HOWL on CIUT
89.5FM

John Calabro is
an educator, publisher, cultural entrepreneur, and fiction writer. His first
novella, Bellecour, was published in 2005 by Guernica Editions and named by the
Globe and Mail First Fiction Reviewer as one of the "Top 5 First Fiction" in
2005.Calabro’s short stories, essays
and reviews have appeared in many journals and anthologies. His second novella
The Cousin was published in 2009 by Quattro Books, and its French translation,
Le Cousin, was shortlisted for a Governor General’s Award. An Imperfect Man is
his third novella.

Rocco de
Giacomo is a widely published poet whose work has appeared in literary journals
in Canada, Australia, England, Hong Kong and the US. His work has recently been
accepted for publication in Juxtraprose Literary Magazine and Ottawa Arts
Review, and has most recently been published in Queen’s Quarterly. Rocco’s
poetry has also been featured on the CBC. He is the author of numerous
chapbooks including, in 2008, Catching Dawn’s Breath. In 2009, his first
full-length poetry collection, Ten Thousand Miles Between Us, was launched
through Quattro Books. His forthcoming collection, Every Night of Our Lives,
will be published with Guernica Editions.

Toronto-based
writer of fiction and poetry, Domenico Capilongo is also a high-school teacher
and karate sensei.His first three books
almost won several literary awards.Although he usually writes for adults, he is also working on a children’s
book about a boy that hates kissing old ladies. His next book of poetry is
about the way we communicate and is forthcoming with Guernica Editions.

George Elliott Clarke hails from Nova Scotia and has won a bunch of laurels. He is the current
Poet laureate of Toronto, and is revered. He has taught at Duke, McGill and
Harvard, and is the E.J. Pratt Professor of Can Lit at UofT.

Paul S. Fowler grew up in in small town Labrador and medium
town Newfoundland, and currently continues to grow up in big town Ontario.

Luciano
Iacobelli is the author of numerous chapbooks, 3 full length poetry books, and
he is one of the collaborators of The Emu Dialogues.His book The Examined Life is due to be
published in 2016 by Guernica books. He is the co owner of Quattro Books, and
the publisher of Lyricalmyrical Press.

Justin Lauzon
is the Founder and Operator of Lexical.ca, Canada's Word on Writing. He is a
writer, web designer, and reviewer, working as the Digital Marketing Intern for
The Word On The Street Toronto and the Literary Coordinator for Hear Here: A
Creative Salon. His writing has been featured in untethered Magazine, The Rusty
Toque, and on the Descant Blog.

Paul Salvatori
is reggae artist and performer. His original music celebrates the joys of love
while also expressive of the pain of loss. Paul is also a documentarian
interested in the struggles as well as heroism of rare or marginalized
individuals, recently placing in a TVO film contest for his documentary,
"Short On Short", about a modest-statured gentleman's search for
romance.His upcoming documentary work
will explore the significance of graffiti in different youth subcultures
internationally, coinciding with his area of focus as a researcher at UofT.

Monday, June 8, 2015

On June 7th, 2015 fifteen Amazons of the Mediterranean gathered at the Black Swan Tavern - they were comedians, poets and writers - serenaded by one brave singer/musician. They laughed, they commiserated, they shared ... and a wonderful time was had by all.

Our first set ...

Brave comedian Daniela Saioni leads the way ...

La poetessa, award winning Gianna Patriarca

Gianna

The always charming poet Josie Di Sciascio-Andrews

Josie Di Sciascio-Andrews

Poet Giovanna Riccio

One of our Greek Amazons ... the writer Tina Tzatzanis

reading for one of her very first times

Tina

Serenaded by the multi-talented musician/singer Nigel Barnes

The writer and arts supporter Darlene Madott

Darlene

Poet Silvia Falsaperla (truly the name of a poet), at her first reading

Silvia

Talented writer Bianca Lakoseljac, a true trooper, whodrove five hours from up north to make the reading

About Us

The (Not So) Nice Italian Girls & Friends were formed in 2009 to promote the work of Italo-Canadian writers and to create a dialogue with writers of all backgrounds, orientations and ethnicities. A Lit Chick (Michelle Alfano) is a co-founder of the series.

Michelle Alfano

Until 2015, Michelle Alfano (also known as A Lit Chick) served as an Associate Editor with the literary quarterly Descant. She is the co-organizer of the Love Poetry Festival honouring Milton Acorn and Gwen MacEwen.

Her personal memoir The Unfinished Dollhouse (Cormorant Books, 2017) was selected as one of The Globe 100 Best Books of the Year in 2017.

Her novella, Made Up Of Arias, was the 2010 winner of the Bressani Award for Short Fiction. Her short story “Opera”, on which the novella was based, was a finalist for a Journey Prize anthology.

Her fiction and non-fiction work has been widely published in Canada in major literary publications including Descant, Prairie Fire, The Capilano Review, The Antigonish Review, Event, A Room of One’s Own and in six anthologies published respectively by: Prentice Hall, Quarry Press, Italian Canadiana, Guernica Editions, Red Deer Press and Legas Publishing.

She is currently at work on a novel entitled Destiny, think of me while you sleep.